Bills Slapped by Seattle 50-17,Rookie QB & Marshawn Lynch Buries Buffalo. Buddy Nix Has Work Cut Out for Him in Face of Very Tough 2013 Bills Schedule

December 16, 2012

DON’T GET ME STARTED saw the Buffalo Bills continue to wallow in despair as they slopped to another loss, this time to Seattle 50-17 Things won’t get any easier next year unless Buddy Nix does a better job building the team since Buffalo will be facing some of the strongest teams in the league next year.. The schedule is toward end of this column.

The Sunday game was over in the first quarter as the Bills had no answers to the offense schemed up by Pete Carroll, coach of Seattle as they scored twice to take a 14-0 lead. Their offense, with Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch overwhelmed the Bills defense in the first 30 minutes as Seattle led 31-17 at the half. In the second half it was no contest as Seattle pulled away to a convincing rout of the home team 50-17. The Bills are now 5-9.

Lynch and Wilson combined for 206 rushing yards.

I wonder how Buddy Nix must be feeling after saying it takes time to groom a quarterback. Well, the rookie QB of Seattle, Wilson, put the game away in the first half, scoring 3 touchdowns and passing for another to end any hope the Bills had for a win. His TDs came on runs of 14, 25, and 13 yards against the befuddled Bills.

Five rookie quarterbacks are starting in this season’s NFL As for Lynch, let’s face it. He is a great running back. He had 100 yards rushing in the first half alone. After 10 carries for 103 yards in the game, Lynch was given the night off.

As for Russell Wilson? He had an outstanding game, especially with his legs. With 4 minutes left in the game and the huge lead, Wilson’s day was over BUT he completed 14 of 23 for 205 yards and a touchdown. He rushed 92 yards on 9 carries with 3 touchdowns.

Once again, Chan Gailey relied on Fitzpatrick who had almost double the passing plays as opposed to running play.

C.J. Spiller was a targeted Buffalo player but he still managed to go over the 1,000 yard mark on the season and had a 100-yard game. He carried only 17 times for 103 yards, his longest 18 yards and one touchdown.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was……well, he was Ryan Fitzpatrick. He tried to go deep to no avail and had to dink his way around Rogers Center in the third quarter, he had 2 interceptions and a fumble, leading to 17 Seahawk points, contributing to the 50-17 rout.

On the day, Fitzpatrick was 21 of 38 38 times for 217 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions and one fumble. Thigpen replaced Fitzpatrick late in the game.

It’s time for the Gailey/Nix combo to see what Travares Jackson can do and have him replace Fitzpatrick, who has shown he is not the answer to the Bills playoff woes.

Now it remains to be seen whether Buddy Nix will continue to stand behind Coach Chan Gailey or if Ralph Wilson will step in and say “enough’s enough.”

All one has to do is take a look at the below Bills schedule for next season and realize that Nix cannot continue to have a coach who plays not to lose rather than play to win. Look at the teams Buffalo will face next season. It’s one of the tougher schedules the Bills have faced in a long time and unless Wilson and Nix do their job in the off-season, then it looks as if Buffalo might be looking at the #1 pick in the draft in 2014 after yet another season without a playoff berth.

If the Bills couldn’t do it against a basically weak schedule this season, then they will be looking at a tougher schedule next season. Here are the teams Buffalo will face beginning next September.

HOME

AWAY

New England Patriots

New England Patriots

Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Cincinnati Bengals

Pittsburgh Steelers

Atlanta Falcons

New Orleans Saints

Carolina Panthers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

AFC West team*

AFC South Team*

*The AFC West and AFC South teams will be announced after the current season ends.

As one can see, this will not be a walk in the park. This is a very tough schedule with well coached teams facing the Bills. So what does that mean? It means that Buddy Nix has a big decision or two to make.

Get a new head coach and a powerful offensive coordinator. Take another look at the schedule and see the quarterbacks the Bills will be facing this coming season: TOM BRADY, JOE FLACCO, ANDY DALTON, MATT RYAN, BEN ROTHLISBERGER, DREW BREES, and JOSH FREEMAN.

Fans will be screaming for a new coach of the Bills. Then the quarterback of the Bills. Then the defensive coordinator of the Bills. And then……the draft and free agent signings. Buddy Nix can’t continue to see other teams get draft picks like Kaepernick and Wilson get by them as other teams picked them up and they became playoff quarterbacks in their rookie seasons.

The basic defense seems sound enough with talented people to build on for next year, save for a linebacker and cornerback. Certainly the running back position is also pretty well set. The big needs in order are (1) Quarterback; (2) Wide Receive (3) linebacker (4) cornerback…..and some good backups on the offensive line. Also another good tight end.

Once again the biggest need, of course, is a well experienced head coach who can take advantage of the talent and get into a scheme that fits the talent as opposed to having the talent adopt a scheme not suited for them. It’s the way Ted Marchibroda handled things. He knew what talent he had on the offense and devised the attack that made them so successful on Don’t Get Me Started.